Cover-up charges dropped against Wall's former schools chief, aide

Jan. 28, 2014

Sandra D. Brower in court in May. file photo / FILE PHOTO

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@Khopkinsapp

Former Wall Superintendent James Habel file photo / FILE PHOTO

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FREEHOLD — The former Wall schools superintendent and his former assistant have been cleared by a grand jury presented with new facts about an alleged cover-up of accusations of child molestation in the school system, authorities said.

However, former Superintendent James F. Habel, who retired from the Wall school district in 2012 still faces charges in a separate, 17-count, indictment alleging, among other crimes, mortgage fraud and defrauding the school district of $362,000 in vacation pay he was not entitled to.

But there are now no criminal charges against former assistant superintendent Sandra D. Brower, who has been suspended without pay from her job as Lacey’s school superintendent following the initial indictment.

Brower has a five-year employment contract with Lacey, and she will seek reinstatement, said her attorney, Edward C. Bertucio.

“Now that she’s been exonerated, her intention is to resume as superintendent of schools,” Bertucio said. “She has a contract. It has to be honored.”

A grand jury on Monday issued a “no bill” in the cover-up case against Habel and Brower. That means the panel found no probable cause to believe that the pair had committed a crime, and it failed to return an indictment against them, said acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.

A previous grand jury in May reached a different conclusion and charged Habel, 57, now living in Dunedin, Fla., and Brower, 46, of Wall with official misconduct, hindering a criminal investigation, obstructing the administration of law and conspiracy. The charges alleged that Brower and Habel conspired to cover up an allegation in 2009 that a teacher had molested a 4-year-old, after Brower, then assistant schools superintendent in Wall, received an email containing the accusation.

The molestation allegation turned out to be unfounded.

Since the indictment was handed up, the prosecutor’s office learned of new evidence that it was obligated under the office’s code of ethics to bring to a grand jury, Gramiccioni said. The new grand jury considered the evidence over four days and declined to indict the pair, he said. Gramiccioni said that because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, he is not allowed to reveal the nature of the new evidence.

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He said it “caused this grand jury to question whether the conduct was criminal or negligent.”

The first grand jury to consider the case returned an indictment that alleged Brower never contacted police as required by law, and later lied to them. The panel also alleged she altered emails and fired, transferred or forced the resignation of staff members who were aware of her misconduct.

Habel’s attorney, Robert A. Honecker of the Ocean Township law firm Ansell, Grimm & Aaron, said the new evidence failed to establish a link between alleged retaliation against school personnel and the failure to report the accusation of child abuse.

“The state had linked those two together to show some type of conspiracy, but the new evidence, once uncovered, clearly showed that was not the case,” Honecker said.

The new grand jury “listened to the evidence presented and found there was insufficient evidence to believe Dr. Brower or Dr. Habel committed any crimes,” Honecker said. , adding that Habel was ecstatic to learn the news.

Honecker and Bertucio said the new evidence came to light as a result of their own investigations.

“From the inception, Dr. Brower maintained her innocence,” said Bertucio, of the Eatontown law firm Hobbie, Corrigan and Bertucio. “In support of that, this firm did an investigation and filed motions that led to the revelation of additional witnesses and documents. This information, together with the results of our investigation, were given to the Prosecutor’s Office, which chose to return to the grand jury and present it. ... It corroborates my client’s innocence.”

Bertucio commended the Prosecutor’s Office for bringing the new information to the grand jury. He said his client could have faced 20 years in prison if she were convicted.

“She is ecstatic, of course, and relieved,” Bertucio said.

Habel came under criminal investigation after retiring from the Wall school district in June 2012.

In the17-count indictment handed up in June, he is charged with official misconduct, theft, mortgage fraud and money laundering. That indictment alleges Habel falsified his income when refinancing a mortgage on his former Point Pleasant home, shredded documents to thwart the accurate recording of vacation time he was entitled to from the school district, and failed to return electronics equipment when he retired. Those charges are pending.